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After a rough first game at Portsmouth, K.C. Rivers rounded into form nicely over his last two contests, posting respectable numbers for the tournament and showing flashes of what hes capable of. Still, it probably wasnt the performance he was hoping for, being one of the more highly touted players coming into the week. On the bright side, Rivers helped himself out by measuring in at 65 in shoes, with an impressive 69 wingspan.

Since the last time we wrote about Rivers prior to this season, there really isnt much new to say, as evidenced by the fact that when you compare his numbers from his junior to senior year: they may as well be carbon copies. Rivers is very much the same player today as he was a year ago, not making major strides in any area of his game.

As a shooter, Rivers is excellent when spotting up, posting an excellent 1.49 points per possession on spot-up shots according to Synergy Sports Technology. When shooting on the move, either coming around screens or pulling up off the dribble, Rivers is still a good shooter, however hes prone to some very wild misses, as his form has a tendency to break down when he has a hand in his face, plus he seems to rush some of his shots in this manner. Peculiarly, despite showing a lot of ability knocking down shots from the field, Rivers has still struggled from the free-throw line, posting a disappointing 67% this season, actually the worst number of his career.

As for his dribble-drive game, Rivers still is lacking in advanced ball-handling skills and explosiveness, not being a huge threat in isolation situations. This was evident at times at Portsmouth, where he was outside the comfort zone of his normal offense, and it took him time to adjust to how he could consistently get open shots. At the basket, Rivers isnt a very good finisher in college due to his lack of vertical explosiveness, and this is something that will be magnified even more at the professional level.

If Rivers improved anywhere this season, it would be on the defensive end, though this was already a strong point for him prior to this season. Fully buying into Clemsons attack style pressure defense, Rivers does an excellent job of playing defense from baseline to baseline, getting his hands into passing lanes to disrupt the opposing offense. As a man-to-man defender, Rivers shows great attentiveness on and off the ball, chasing his man all over the court, while showing a good fundamental base in man defense. While his lateral quickness wouldnt put him in the top half of shooting guards at the NBA level, its still adequate enough to get the job done given his fundamentals and impressive wingspan.

Looking forward to the draft, Rivers should be in second round discussions for most teams, and he will undoubtedly have chances to make a roster even if he isnt drafted. Improving his shooting on the move and becoming a better ball-handler should be among his priorities this off-season. Still, his shooting ability and defensive prowess already could potentially land him a roster spot, especially given his low-mistake style of basketball, strong intangibles, and ability to buy into a team concept.

Largely flying underneath the radar as far as the national media is concerned, K.C. Rivers looks like as good a candidate as any to elevate his standing with a breakout senior season, as the leader of a very solid Clemson squad that should make noise in this years ACC.

Breaking down his game and production, Rivers might not initially jump off the page at you with an incredible amount of upside or explosiveness, but once you dig deeper, you realize that hes a very versatile and valuable contributor. Smart, unselfish, active, aggressive, mistake-free and extremely solid as both a defender and perimeter shooterRivers looks to have all the makings of a future excellent NBA role player down the road.

Despite his slightly unorthodox shooting mechanicstypical of left-handed players actually, Rivers is a prolific 3-point shooter46% of his attempts from the field come from beyond the arc, of which he knocks down a very solid 40%. With his feet set and a moment to calibrate his shot Rivers is absolutely deadly, while his accuracy drops off notably when forced to rush or shoot off the dribble. As previously noted in our initial scouting report, Rivers technique could still use some polishing, but there is a lot to like already about the touch he displays and obviously the production he delivers.

As a slasher is where Rivers is considerably weaker at the moment. Very much capable of putting the ball down for one or two dribbles in a straight line, thanks to his strength and solid first step, Rivers has a hard time changing directions with the ball and utilizing advanced ball-handling moves, particularly with his right hand. He lacks some creativity to his game and does not get to the basket at a very good rate, as evidenced by the pedestrian amount of free throw attempts he garners.

When he does get to the rim, he strongly prefers to finish with his left hand, but usually is more likely to pull-up off the dribble than he is to go all the way to the rack. To his credit, Rivers recognizes his limitations and will rarely force the issue, as you can tell by the extremely low number of turnovers he averaged last season.

Where Rivers might stand out the most at the moment is on the defensive endnot a surprise considering the team he plays for. He seems to take a great deal of pride here, showing excellent strength and a tremendous wingspan to help him get the job done. Hes very intense and fundamentally sound and seems to do a good job of reading the scouting report and internalizing it, getting in the passing lanes at a great rate and putting a great deal of effort into contesting his opponents shots.

Hes also a fantastic rebounder on top of that, showing excellent timing and toughness helping his team out on the glass on both ends of the floor, but particularly offensively. He may lack just a degree of size and lateral quickness to be considered a lock-down defender at the college level, but he has a lot of nice qualities to compensate for that.

For some odd reason Rivers only shoots 68% from the free throw line, which is something hell definitely want to work on. His efficiency in general could still stand to improvethe lack of shot attempts he gets around the rim hurts his percentages, despite his solid perimeter shooting ability.

It will be interesting to see what kind of season Rivers has this yearhis team was much more successful in his junior campaign than they were as a sophomore, but his numbers remained fairly stagnant, even though his role seemed to increase. Beyond the numbers, it will be important for Rivers to show that he can help his team win games, as hes not going to be able to rely on his physical attributes or potential alone to get him drafted. Hes someone scouts are going to monitor closely regardless.

Had a truly outstanding game in Clemsons hard-fought loss against powerhouse UNC in the ACC tournament finals, doing everything he could for his team and showing off all of his various skills on a big stage. Rivers had 28 points on 9-for-20 shooting, including 6-for-12 from deep, and he also chipped in 8 rebounds and 6 steals. Clemson employed their aggressive pressing defense all game long, and Rivers was a huge part of that obviously, using his length, athleticism, and reflexes to steal six possessions for his team, and causing at least one forced turnover with a deflection as well. In the half-court offense, Rivers was very much Clemsons go-to scorer, getting it done in a variety of ways, but most notably with his outside shot. He hit several shots with a very high degree of difficulty, coming off screens, pulling up, and fading away, often with a hand in his face. When Clemson was on the verge of falling out of the game, Rivers was usually the one to come up with a big shot to keep them alive. Rivers also attacked the basket well, driving in both directions, finishing at the rim, and getting to the free throw line. Rivers will have more opportunities on the main stage in the NCAA Tournament, where Clemson has first and second round draws against Villanova and Vanderbilt, two teams they are certainly capable of beating. There is not a whole lot of buzz around his name at the moment, and a strong tournament showing could go a long ways in changing that.

A recent article by ESPN statistical analyst John Hollinger identified Clemson junior K.C. Rivers as someone draftniks have possibly been sleeping on, and after watching some extensive video on the 12-1 Tigers leading scorer, we think he may have been onto something. The 65 swingmans production is up across the board this season, while his efficiency has remained steady.

At 65, the left-handed Rivers has adequate size for a shooting guard at the next level, but appears to have a pretty nice wingspan for his height, which helps him play bigger than he really is. Hes also a good athlete with a nice assortment of skills, contributing in virtually all facets of the game.

Rivers has a versatile and effective scoring game, being able to shoot the ball from behind the arc or take the ball to the basket regularly. His outside shot boasts a high and quick release, and he can hit it spotting up or quickly coming off a screen while on the move. Hes shot 39% from behind the arc for the past two seasons, which is especially impressive considering his shot mechanics still have a lot of room for improvement. Rivers has quite a few bad tendencies with his shot, most noticeably that he pulls the string on his release on about half of his attempts, not holding his follow through. He also has a tendency to fade away a bit when its not necessary, and his body positioning is very inconsistent, sometimes being completely square to the basket, and other times having his left shoulder noticeably ahead of his right shoulder. These critiques are not meant to take away from Rivers, as the fact that he shoots as well as he does with so many inconsistencies in his shot speaks to how good of a natural shooter he is. But with some minor tweaks, he could potentially improve substantially.

Rivers also is pretty good taking the ball to the basket, where he heavily favors his left hand, going left on the majority of his drive attempts. He shows very nice touch around the basket, finishing well with both lay-ups and floaters in the lane, though not showing much ability to finish with his right hand. He uses screens well to get separation going into the lane, where he reads situations well, often taking the best available shot. He doesnt show any exceptional ability to change directions in the lane with the ball, but makes slight adjustments when necessary.

One area where Rivers has shown outstanding improvement with this season is his ability to rebound, with his per-game numbers up from 4.5 to 7.3, even though his minutes per game havent increased. He uses his length, athleticism, and well-built frame to battle for rebounds with players much taller than himself, showing great tenacity on the boards, especially on the offensive end, where 40 of his 95 rebounds have come this season. Rivers is also very impressive with his second and third jump around the basket, looking like a pogo stick at times, while also having the length and touch to make an accurate tip-in even if he doesnt have inside position.

Rivers contributions dont stop there, though, as hes a solid passer in the halfcourt, feeding the post well, making use of bounce passes when necessary, and showing solid court vision for a wing player. Hes not one to drive into the lane and create shots for his teammates, but he makes smart passes and doesnt make many mistakes. Speaking of such, Rivers is only averaging 1.1 turnovers per game, despite taking 12.5 field goal attempts per game and dishing out 2.0 assists per game. Youd be hard-pressed to find many players at any high level of basketball using that many possessions with so few mistakes, and its no aberration, as he committed just 1.2 turnovers per game last season.

On the defensive end, Rivers shows good intensity, playing up on his man and being an important part of Clemsons pressure zone, picking off 1.6 steals per game by using his good hands in the passing lanes. His man-to-man defense is inconsistent, though, with him sometimes doing a good job beating his man to the spot and moving laterally to stay in front, but other times getting beat badly by less-than-impressive offensive moves. His reflexes seem very questionable here, not making the necessary reads quickly enough to recognize where his man is going with the ball.

All in all, K.C. Rivers has quietly developed into a very nice shooting guard prospect over the past three seasons at Clemson, and he should have good reason to test the waters come April. He should warrant an invite to the NBA pre-draft camp, where he could better assess whether he should forego his senior year or not. He should have a very good chance of being drafted whenever he decides to come out, with late first round or early second round not being out of the picture if he keeps up his strong performance. Putting in some side work with a shooting specialist could also do a lot to help his stock.